220 PINJOR 



was always rightly held to be the best room of 

 the house. Below, there is a great open hall, 

 under which runs the main stream, so that the 

 floor space is not divided, as it is in many earlier 

 garden houses. Large rooms close in the hall at 

 each end, and on either side a narrow stair winds 

 upwards to the roof terrace and the ladies' 

 quarters. Here, on arriving, I found that rooms 

 had been prepared for me. It was an enchanting 

 place. Small wonder that Indian ladies feel 

 little wish to wander in the outer world when 

 from their purdah windows they have views like 

 these. The rooms I used opened directly on 

 to the platform of the main roof, the smallest of 

 them, to my joy, still retaining the original 

 decoration. In the lower apartments, time and 

 a growing want of taste had quite destroyed all 

 trace of the painting from which the palace 

 takes its name. But this charming little room 

 had escaped. The walls were white, plastered 

 with the old highly-polished chanam ; and the 

 delicate designs, half painted and half moulded, 

 brought back to mind the marble inlaid work 

 of Agra and Delhi. The Kashmir lacquer of 

 the ceiling shone fresh as ever in spite of the 

 three centuries that had passed since Fadai 



